Leininger Brothers Arrested Authorities Had Hid In Woods, Staked Out Their Barn For Two Days

April 22, 1994|by BOB LAYLO, The Morning Call

After two days of hiding in the woods and staking out the house, authorities yesterday took Mahoning Township farmer brothers George and Bernard Leininger into custody to finish their prison term for assaulting state troopers.

Authorities waited until the brothers were away from their home -- and guns -- before making their move.

"We caught them by surprise," county Detective Joseph Pampanin said. "We had been staking them out all day."

Judge John P. Lavelle had issued a bench warrant Monday telling the brothers, who are in their 60s, to turn themselves in at the county prison. But the brothers, who years ago shot up Lehighton Constable James Garis' car, ignored the order.

That led Pampanin and other officers to wait in the woods.

Pampanin said the brothers did not resist arrest. State Troopers Larry Fedor and Jack Gill caught Bernard Leininger as he left a car at his house. Pampanin, county Sheriff Peter Horerchack and Deputies Joseph Hager and Dwight Nothstein surprised George Leininger as he fed cows in a barn about a half mile from the house.

"We didn't want them hurt, and we didn't want any of our guys getting hurt," Pampanin said as the brothers were being processed at the county prison about 8:30 last night.

Bernard has a one- to two-year sentence to finish. George has a 10-to-24-month sentence to finish.

The sentences stem from an attack on two state troopers June 7, 1990, at the Leiningers' farm. Troopers Fedor and Clark Ritter tried to serve a warrant on the brothers for ramming a pitchfork through a Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. van when an employee tried to read their electric meter.

The brothers attacked, with Bernard kicking Fedor in the groin and George spraying water up Ritter's nose before beating him about the head with a nozzle.

The troopers eventually subdued the men.

The brothers stayed in county prison and refused to hire a lawyer until Feb. 11, 1991, when they retained Kent D. Watkins. The brothers had two competency hearings where they refused to cooperate. Eventually, Lavelle said they could stand trial.

Bernard in March 1991 sued Lavelle, former District Attorney Richard Webb and other authorities claiming his civil rights had been violated. A federal judge dismissed the case.

A jury on April 17, 1992, found Bernard guilty of two counts of simple assault and one count each of resisting arrest and aggravated assault. George was found guilty of aggravated and simple assault.

Lavelle, who said the name Leininger became "synonymous with lawlessness and violence," sentenced the men in April 1992 in a hearing marked with finger pointing and shouting by the brothers.

The brothers then asked for a new trial, saying Lavelle should have excused himself and they were denied a speedy trail. Lavelle rejected the request. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal last month, setting up the stakeout.